Mine
by E. M. Zeray
Summary: They belong to each other. Even though they fight, even though they don't know if they can pay rent or get through the work day, they know that they have the other, and they'll always be there when they wake up, ready to reassure whatever fears they have.


**A/N: I just heard "Mine" by Taylor Swift today and as I was listening to it for the 80****th**** time in a row, I realized how well it fit in with Percy and Annabeth, so I wrote it out. I don't own PJO or the song. Please review!**

Percy sighed with relief as his shift ended. It was 7 o'clock and time for him to go home. While attending NYU, he worked weekday afternoons at a local café and two shifts at a community pool as a lifeguard on weekends. He had worked hard his senior year to make sure he got in. After all, Annabeth got in so she could stay close to camp, and Olympus, and he wanted to stay close to Annabeth.

He hung up his half apron and exited the restaurant, running towards a parked cab. He gave his address and the cab sped off. When he got into his apartment, he smiled. Annabeth was lying on his couch asleep, the History channel still playing on his TV. He loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes. Carefully, so as to not wake her—even though he knew Annabeth was the deepest sleeper ever—he slid behind her and placed a hand on her hip. Her head his chest and Percy leaned down to kiss the top of her head, smiling.

About ten minutes more into the History channel special—which Percy spent staring at his sleeping girlfriend—she roused.

"Oh. Hi. When did you get here?"

"I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes ago?"

She made a sound that seemed to say, "Okay, I'm going back to sleep now," and Percy smiled.

"How was your day?"

"Long," she mumbled. "I have an essay due tomorrow, but I finished it already. No real homework tonight, so let's order pizza. I'm starving."

"Slow down. How was work?"

"Well…not terrible." She seemed more awake now. "You know he actually asked me my opinion on the plans for this mansion he's been remodeling?"

"Wow, that's awesome."

Annabeth was the apprentice/intern to a highly sought after architect in NYC. She worked for four hours at his office every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and two hours on other days. It was hard work, but Annabeth loved it, and it paid well. Of course, she was mostly being paid for getting coffee.

"It was." She squirmed tighter into him. "How was your day?"

"My class this morning was actually not terrible. But I need your help with an essay."

She laughed. "Of course."

"And work was…work. You and I should go to the beach this weekend. I…we haven't been in a while."

"Sounds good to me." She rolled, facing him, her hand on his chest. She felt his heart thump against his skin. Her eyes met his. "Dinner?"

Percy smirked. "Yeah." He grabbed the phone from the table next to the couch and began to dial.

"Can you believe it?" Annabeth asked, smiling proudly.

"Believe what?"

She didn't answer, lost in her thoughts.

_5 YEARS AGO, CAMP HALF-BLOOD, AUGUST 22__ND_

_Percy sat on the shore, staring out at the lake. It was late at night, almost curfew, but they had just defeated Kronos' army 4 days ago. People were healing, people were celebrating, people were relaxing. Camp was going to go late, right up until the first day of school. But no one was complaining. Percy's heart pounded as he stared at the water. His mind drifted to the kiss he and Annabeth had most recently shared. They had been outside her cabin, right after dinner. He had walked her there. _

"_Goodnight," he muttered softly, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. _

"_Goodnight."_

_It was perfect. Except for the distant chatter of people still at dinner, it had been silent around them. The sun had been going down, giving them a perfect dim light… And they kissed. _

"_Sleep well, Seaweed Brain."_

_Percy smiled. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He turned his head and his smile grew when he saw who the noise belonged to. "Wise Girl. Hi."_

_She smiled softly. "Hi, there."_

"_Didn't I just leave you at your cabin a while ago?"_

_She shrugged, sitting down next to him. "I was restless. Bored. I tried reading, I tried going to sleep—"_

"_That explains the attire."_

_She was clad in a T-shirt that was three sizes too big and blue and white striped PJ pants. She had hastily pulled on sneakers and put her hair in a messy ponytail, and she still looked absolutely perfect. Hades, Annabeth made armor look cute, which was pretty hard to do._

"_Yeah. What about you?"_

_Percy turned his gaze back to the water. "Couldn't fall asleep. I took a walk around the cabins and ended up here. It looked too perfect to leave." _

_Annabeth noticed he was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, no shoes. She didn't speak and simply looked out at the water as well. The moon was still sitting lazily on the horizon, about to peak out over the water grandly once it got up the energy. _

_Annabeth felt his arm go around her. She smiled and leaned into him. As she closed her eyes, she wished the moment would never end. A surge of happiness overtook her. He was hers. For some reason, it had just hit her. And she never wanted it to change. He was hers. He was hers._

"_You're corrupting me," she whispered._

"_How?"_

"_I was so careful, ya know. I never told Luke how I felt. I never told anyone. I was scared. What if he didn't…feel the same and stuff like that." Annabeth paused, expecting Percy to be angry or maybe hurt that she was talking about Luke, but he didn't speak. "I never wanted to be hurt. Not like that. And…you changed all that. I still didn't want to be hurt, but I didn't care so much if I was because at least you knew then how I felt."_

"_So you're saying I made you a total badass?"_

_She laughed. "Not quite there, yet, but you made me…a rebel…to my own ways, at least." Proving the point, she said, "It's curfew."_

_Their eyes met again. Percy's arm tightened as he pulled her close. "You're right, it is. I suppose we'd better get to bed. I'd hate to have survived the war of the century only to be eaten by Harpies."_

"_Mmm, in a minute. I kind of like breaking the rules."_

_Their lips met. Percy kept his arm around her and Annabeth swung her legs over his, getting even closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck. When they broke apart, Percy touched his forehead to hers._

"_I say we meet here every night until school starts. An hour after dinner."_

_Percy smiled. "Okay."_

"_Bring a swimsuit tomorrow."_

"_Are you forgetting who I am?"_

_She sighed, exasperated. "You're actually going swimming, Seaweed Brain."_

_He kissed her once more, lingering slightly. "Looking forward to it."_

PRESENT

"Annabeth?"

She snapped out of her memory. "Sorry, what?"

"You okay?"

She nodded. "Absolutely." A smile broke out on her lips. "I'm gonna put on my PJs. I wanna stay here tonight, okay?"

Percy kissed the tip of her nose and released his hold on her. "Absolutely. You know where your stuff is?"

"It's been in the same drawer of the same dresser in the same room for the last two years, Percy. I think I can find it."

Rolling his eyes, he swatted her playfully as she stood and walked into his bedroom. The low, wide bed with sea-green sheets and a huge, puffy comforter was unmade and took up most of the room. He had a dresser, a closet, and a connecting bathroom. Outside of the bedroom, down the hall from the living room, there was a desk shoved against the wall, and on the opposite end, there was his little kitchen nook where he stored leftovers, cereal, ice cream, cookies, crackers, peanut butter, the occasional box of frozen waffles, sandwich meat, one slice of bread, half a carton of old milk, and beer in his fridge.

In his living room, he had a couch, a coffee table, a TV, and an arm chair. Annabeth entered the room again after changing into her new PJs. They were smaller than her old ones. Her shirt actually fit her, and her shorts went mid-thigh.

Percy stood when she entered the room. Smirking, Annabeth grabbed him by his tie and pulled him close.

"You look really great in this uniform, you know."

"I look even better out of it," he whispered in her ear.

"Trust me, I know."

"I'm gonna get changed, too."

"Need help?"

"I've been dressing myself since I was—oh, you mean…"

Annabeth waved him away, rolling her eyes. "Hurry up, Seaweed Brain. Pizza'll be here soon."

While Percy was changing, Annabeth allowed her thoughts to drift again…

_4 YEARS AGO, CAMP HALF-BLOOD, JULY 4__TH_

_Annabeth sat in between his legs, leaning against him as they watched the fireworks. Percy had been teasing her earlier that day because he had realized her birthday was before his—genius that he was—and he realized this meant she was older, and was therefore manipulating and taking advantage of such an innocent young soul. This had erupted into laughs from his side and furious blushing and irritation on hers, leading to a larger fight, complete with yelling and name calling until he grabbed her and kissed the life out of her. They had been standing in the middle of camp with plenty of onlookers and the crowd cheered when this happened._

"_What was that for?" she'd whispered._

"_To get you to shut up. By the way, wanna go to the fireworks with me?"_

_And here they were, sitting on a blanket, watching the colored explosions in the sky. That night, she told him everything she hadn't already, which wasn't much. It was a lot about her parents. Secrets about how she felt with her father before running away, secrets that held the key to why she was so guarded. He clued in eventually, realizing she had never been truly accepted until Camp Half-Blood, and then never romantically accepted until him. The thought made him swell with pride._

_He promised her that night that, no matter what, they wouldn't make the mistakes her parents had. It seemed to make her feel better. They talked through the fireworks except for one brief period of time near the end where he was sure she had fallen asleep. She was beautiful, limp in his arms, but holding on tight to his shirt as she slept. She awoke quickly when another explosion went off, and Percy teased her good naturedly. She blushed._

"_I didn't fall asleep."_

"_Annabeth," he whispered. "It was cute."_

PRESENT

"I got another bill this morning," Annabeth announced as they sat once more on the couch, pizza on paper plates and CBS on the TV. "It seems like they're coming more and more often. I'm only barely able to pay them."

"Don't worry. Just keep your job and keep mooching meals off me and you'll be fine."

"I can't have you spending money on me for the rest of my life."

"Why not?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I just mean… Well, after college, of course… Um…"

"Spit it out, Percy."

"Aren't we gonna get married?"

Annabeth's heart pounded loudly in her chest. That wasn't exactly the proposal she'd been hoping for. Yes, she had assumed that, when he was ready, he would ask her to marry him, she'd say yes, and it would be over and done with. Marriage to her was a state of mind. She spent most of her time at his place, they went out when they could, but almost always stayed in; they worked, saw each other as much as they could and went to bed knowing the other person would be there for them when they woke up. They were basically already married, so it didn't bother her that he had never asked. They were only juniors at NYU. They didn't have time to plan a wedding and Percy didn't have enough money for a ring.

"Annabeth?"

"Oh, um, yeah, I assumed. Eventually."

He nodded. "Um, by the way, that wasn't my proposal. Don't be disappointed, yet."

She smirked.

"Do you think we'd make it? Married?"

"Well, we've made it five years dating."

"Remember that fight we had last December?"

Annabeth sighed. Did she ever. It had been one of the worst and best moments she had had with Percy.

_4 MONTHS AGO, PERCY'S APARTMENT, DECEMBER 12__TH_

_The clock on the bedside table flashed in bright red numbers, "2:30 AM." Annabeth had her arms wrapped around herself as she waited for the inevitable. When it didn't come, when the shouting just got louder, when they insults got worse and the picture frame flew to the ground, shattering, she stormed out of the apartment, tears running down her cheeks. She hated crying, but she couldn't stop. The tears kept coming. Pouring like a leaky faucet. _

_She jumped into the elevator, closing the doors on Percy. She didn't notice him running for the stairs. As she got the edge of the street, Percy ran, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. She didn't want to fight anymore. She was sick of fighting with him._

_She braced herself for the goodbye—it was bound to happen. Her heart was about to break into a million little pieces. But instead, he wrapped her in his arms as the rain poured steadily down, just like her tears. Annabeth sobbed into his chest. _

"_I'll never leave you, Annabeth. Ever. For gods' sakes. I'm in love with you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and you're mine. I wouldn't leave you. I'd be too scared someone else would snatch you up. You're mine. You got it?"_

_She whispered, "Yes."_

"_And I'm yours. Say it."_

"_You're mine, Percy."_

"_Damn straight," he muttered into her wet hair. "I love you."_

PRESENT

Annabeth squirmed in his arms and he held her tighter. As they lay in bed together, he kissed her shoulder.

"I love you, Percy."

"Good. I'd hate to think the past 5 years have all been for nothing."

She smiled contently. "Are you gonna stop that so we can go to sleep?"

"Mmm, maybe. If you promise me something."

"Okay."

"Move in with me. I mean," he added hastily, not giving her a chance to interrupt, "you spend all your time here anyway and you're having trouble affording your place, so the obvious solution—"

"Yeah, okay."

He hesitated. Had she really just agreed so easily? "Really?"

"Yeah. It makes sense. And this way we'll have more spending money 'cause we'll be sharing rent."

"Awesome. We'll pack your stuff up this weekend. Now, where were we?" He went back to kissing her neck and Annabeth forgot she had been trying to go to sleep.

Her last thought as she fell asleep later that night was, _Mine. He's all mine._

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Review pretty please!**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


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